As a story telling songwriter, Slaid Cleaves is up there
with the greats of his adopted home state Texas. Over the last decade a series
of masterful albums have originated from the pen of Slaid who ventured south west
from his Maine origins around twenty years ago and has also been keen to expand
his horizons overseas with a multitude of visits to the listening venues of the
UK. STILL FIGHTING THE WAR is another highly engaging collection of songs from
the fiercely independent Slaid and over the course of its 45 minute duration, your mind will be enriched by an artistic exposure to some of the issues
surrounding contemporary America.
While much of the album’s focus is on the opener and title
track ‘Still Fighting the War’, where
Slaid has teamed up with Texan legend Jimmy LaFave to tackle the thorny issue
of post conflict trauma, attention is immediately drawn to two tracks co-written
with Rod Picott. Both ‘Rust Belt Fields’
and ‘Welding Burns’ were originally
standout tracks on Rod’s 2011 album named after the latter. With Slaid and Rod
being long term friends from their shared north eastern background, it is no
surprise that there is a strong nostalgic feel to these two songs. In fact the
theme surrounding ‘Rust Belt Fields’
could almost be a soundtrack to the current economic dilemma facing the West
with a drain of wealth and resource flowing uncontrollably towards the emerging
world.
The collaborations arranged on this excellent album
strengthened specific songs with Harmoni Kelley McCarty featuring on ‘Whim of Iron’ and the acclaimed Eliza
Gilkyson adding value to ‘In the Rain’.
One of the albums most ear pleasing tracks ‘Texas
Love Song’ has a vocal contribution from Terri Hendrix and is a wonderful yet
slightly quirky homage to the Lone Star State. Texas is also name checked in the
follow on track ‘God’s Own Yodeller’,
a vocal exercise which Slaid partakes in from time to time and thus immerses himself
further in the musical culture of the west.
High spots from the remaining tracks include’Go
for the Gold’, a delightful gospel effort which is drenched in an
emotional and uplifting country sound and has the potential to become a popular
staple of Slaid’s live shows. ‘Hometown
USA’ gives you a pure dose of real deal Americana and invites you to peer
into the world of destiny for its characters. However each of the thirteen
tracks whether supported by simple acoustic or with a fuller band sound, carry
the trademark lyrical excellence of Slaid and demand your unrelenting attention
to soak up their comprehensive nature.
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| Photo by Karen Cleaves |
There is no particular structure to this record and it will
be equally effective on shuffle, although the closing ‘Voice of Midnight’ does have an exit feel to it. In fact you can
mix and match any of Slaid’s recent releases and the seamless song writing
strength will weave them all together in a concoction of real life imagery. STILL
FIGHTING THE WAR is business as usual for Slaid Cleaves and you get the feeling
there is still half a lifetime of well crafted perceptual songs still to come.
www.slaidcleaves.com
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